Chauvigny (Vienne), view of town.
Photograph courtesy of Whitney S.
Stoddard.
Chauvigny was a possession of the bishops of Poitiers. It has a massive square 12th-
century keep with flanking turrets. The Château d’Harcourt (13th–15th c.) belonged to
the viscounts of Châtellerault and retains its entry tower and impressive ramparts. Ruins
of the Château de Mauléon (12th and 15th c.) and the square keep of the Château de
Gouzan (11th c.) are still evident. The Romanesque church of Saint-Pierre, founded by
the lords of Chauvigny, was begun in the 11th century and completed with an impressive
13th-century double-bayed bell tower. The interior is remarkable for the richness and
originality of the sculpted and polychrome capitals in the choir. All are naively carved
but enormously expressive; some are grotesques (dragons, monsters), but most are
biblical, including such motifs as the Annunciation, Adoration of the Magi, and
Presentation in the Temple. The triple-apsed Romanesque church of Notre-Dame
likewise preserves important sculpted capitals but is more remarkable for the late 14th- or
early 15th-century mural of Christ Bearing His Cross, attended by numerous civil and
religious leaders.
William W.Kibler/William W.Clark
Crozet, René. Chauvigny et ses monuments: étude archéologique. Poitiers, 1958.
CHEVALERIE OGIER
. Early 13th-century chanson de geste. Ogier, originally a legendary hero of the Ardennes
region (Ogier [Ar] denois), the heartland of the Carolingians, has often been confused
with the historical Autcharius Francus, who defended the rights of the children of
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